Today, MasterCard issued an update on progress by its cardholders, partners and customers in adopting EMV chip technology. According to a press release:

• more than two-thirds (67 percent) of U.S.-issued MasterCard-branded consumer credit cards now feature chips;
• the above represents a 51 percent increase in the number of chip-embedded consumer credit cards since the Oct. 1 liability shift;
• consumers can now use chip cards at 1.2 million U.S. merchant locations – an increase of 121 percent since Oct. 1; and
• in addition to national retail chains, approximately one million local and regional merchant locations now accept chip cards.

"Chip technology is an essential upgrade to better protect consumers and businesses," said Catherine Murchie, senior vice president of North American enterprise security solutions for MasterCard. "Other countries that have already adopted chips have seen significant reductions in counterfeit card fraud over time — as much as 60, 70 or even 80 percent. The U.S. industry continues to work together on EMV to generate similar results."

In 2015, the Payments Security Task Force projected that by 2017, 98 percent of cards issued in the U.S. would feature chip technology, exceeding adoption rates in regions and countries that began implementing chip technology decades ago, the release said.

Mastercard said that merchant adoption of EMV terminals remains on track with projections in other Payment Security Task Force studies.